This invention relates to trailer hitches and more particularly it relates to guides to aid in attaching a vehicle to a trailer by means of a ball and socket mating device.
As will be appreciated, in reversing an automotive vehicle to hitch a trailer thereto, vision is almost always obscured. Thus, the driver of the vehicle, without the guidance of another person, is left to guess at the approximate position of both the ball on the vehicle and socket of the trailer to be towed. That is, the driver uses a trial and error technique to get the ball centered under the socket of the trailer which has its attendant problems of damage to either the automotive vehicle or the trailer or both.
There have been many attempts to the solution to this problem. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,363,318 provides a trailer hitch sight; U.S. Pat. No. 2,984,011 provides a trailer alignment device; U.S. Pat. No. 2,478,736 provides a vehicle coupler; U.S. Pat. No. 2,197,157 provides a trailer hitch with an alignment means; U.S. Pat. No. 3,826,324 provides a powered mover to move the trailer; U.S. Pat. No. 4,285,138 provides a trailer hitch visual alignment device utilizing wands; U.S. Pat. No. 4,627,634 discloses a side vision aid; U.S. Pat. No. 4,192,526 shows a trailer hitch guide with a sighting means and a guide pointer; U.S. Pat. No. 4,958,436 provides a plurality of visual guides which are deployed automatically as the element being carried on the trailer moves off the trailer; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,695,630 discloses a device which attaches to the track and facilitates the guiding of the bar eye into engagement with the coupling.
In spite of all those devices, there still is a great need for a simple guiding device which does not have to be attached either to the trailer or the towing vehicle which facilitates placing the ball on the tow vehicle with respect to the socket on the trailer. The subject invention provides such a guiding device which is simple to use and can be stored when not in use.